So, Wolves and Liverpool finished the game with 2 goals and my over 2.5 goals bet lost. However, I am totally happy with that bet as the game went according to my plan and both teams had numerous opportunities. The only problem was finishing and I cannot control that. Today, let's head to Cardiff vs Manchester United game. I do expect to see some nice things from this game and the odds are quite off, in my opinion.

As always, you can find the game on Scorum Bet. Just click here and place your bets! (I have some liquidity problems because I might have placed all-in last night on Liverpool's game. My fellow friends, never do that. I repeat, never! I will start betting with a bankroll now - I had some fun, it's time to get serious).

My Pick

Manchester United sacked Jose Mourinho and appointed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the club's legend who played alongside with Scholes, Giggs, Keane and other great MU's starts. Solskjaer will lead MU until the end of the season. I am pretty sure that he won't get his contract extended after the season but who knows - if he starts winning maybe Manchester will give him a benefit of the doubt.

This will be the first MU's game with a new coach and I expect to see some players (all eyes on Pogba) return to the starting XI and start dominating. There is this new coach's effect that makes all players step up for a few games. It happens most of the time. Just looks at Southampton beating Arsenal. So, I do think that Manchester United won't have any problems against Cardiff this week. There are some other factors we will talk about, but the main one is a new coach and a huge difference between both teams' players.

My bet: MU to win @1.595 or MU -1 @2 for people who like higher odds

Cardiff's form

Would you dare place a bet for a draw?

I have not seen a lot of Cardiff's game this season but from what I've seen, this team improved a lot since the beginning of the season. They have 4 wins and 6 losses in their last 10 Premier League games, which shows that Cardiff are not great at comebacks. They know how to keep the desired result, though. At the beginning of the season, this team was all about defending but now they got used to the Premier League and started scoring goals as well. 13 goals in last 10 matches prove my point. However, Cardiff's defense got worse as well - they conceded 17 goals in their last 10 games. Bigger teams with great attacking players tend to score at least 2 goals against Cardiff. I know that we are not used to Manchester United attacking their opponents but I am sure that guys like Pogba, Rashford, Martial, or Lingard will show their true colors now.

Cardiff are only 2 points ahead of the relegation zone so they will be eager to get some positive results this Christmas. That said, I don't think they will have more passion and desire to win the game. So, Cardiff are a very average team, without too many big names. However, I must admit that those guys are huge and they know how to defend and attack from set-pieces. Sadly, long balls might not be the best option against Manchester United, a team which is stacked with physically strong defenders and midfielders.

Manchester United's form

Even though MU sucked, they still showed some decent results.

Manchester United suck but it doesn't matter. I don't see any point analyzing previous results of Manchester United as it will be a whole new team without Jose Mourinho. We all know that these players are great and they would fight for the top 4 under normal circumstances. However, Jose Mourinho screwed up big time and a lot of good players had to suffer. Now, Solskjaer will let all the best players show what they are capable of. I believe that this part of the season will decide Paul Pogba's future in Manchester United. If he manages to start playing like a true leader, he will stay and people will blame Mourinho for all the terrible years that Pogba had. However, if Pogba continues with his awful form, he will have to leave Manchester on the first flight. I have a feeling that Pogba will do fine, though. And I am sure that he will be full of energy tonight. Other than that, Manchester United would be favorites even if Mourinho were still their manager. Without Mourinho, I cannot see any scenario how Manchester United don't win tonight.

Expectations from the game

Cardiff City will continue to play like they always do against stronger opponents - they will defend inside of their final third and try to capitalize on any set-pieces they create. I don't think that this team has enough talent to offer anything different. The main question remains how Jose Mourinho's departure will affect MU's players. From what I have seen so far, most of the guys are happy to see Jose go and will now try to prove that on the pitch. Just imagine being in Pogba's skin now. If you fail, you won't have any excuses anymore because Mourinho is gone. That means that all the guys who were playing like shit (excuse me but MU were shit this season so far) have the last chance to step up and show their power. And we all know that Manchester United players are at least twice better than Cardiff's guys.

I do think that Manchester United will go for an early goal and try to close the game as fast as possible. This would give Solskjaer a lot of confidence going forward and would help fans forget that awful run with Mourinho. Also, Manchester United can still try to climb to the top 4 but they need to start winning now. Ok, even if the top 4 is too far away, they have to stay in the top 6. I am not sure if fans would be happy to see West Ham or Wolverhampton finishing higher than MU. That's not about titles anymore. That is about pride and Manchester United have a lot of it.

Strengths of the bet:

  • MU have far better players than Cardiff. To be honest, most of the teams in the Premier League have better players than Cardiff, which is one of the weakest teams this season.
  • Jose Mourinho is out and all the players who sucked under his ruling will now want to prove that it was not their fault. 
  • Most of the time, when teams change their coaches in mid-season, they get a good energy boost and start with a couple of wins before things stabilize. It is always a good idea to bet for teams with new coaches before bookies adjust the odds. 1.6 for MU's win would be reasonable with Mourinho as a coach. However, now the odds are too high to ignore.
  • Cardiff are one of those teams which lose against stronger opponents and win against weaker. They are not a team which could surprise you. This season Cardiff lost 5 out of 5 meetings against the top 6 clubs in the Premier League. Man City won 5:0 while Chelsea and Liverpool banged 4 goals each.
  • Cardiff will not know what to expect from Manchester United tonight so they might have some problems getting ready for the match. I believe that Solskjaer, with little time that he had, will surprise Cardiff with something new.
  • Both teams will be motivated to win but I believe that Manchester United will have more desire tonight and will fight for every single ball. After all, Jose Mourinho is out and there would be no one to blame for bad results anymore.
  • Even though MU looked terrible this season, they still managed to win most of the games against weaker opponents in the Premier League. After all, the talent alone helps them to survive sometimes. It used to be the games against strong sides that caused MU all sorts of the problems.

Weaknesses of the bet:

  • Cardiff are not the worst at defending and if they manage to survive at least 50 minutes, they might start parking the bus and dream about 0-0. That said, big teams had no problems to score against Cardiff this year, showing that even though Cardiff are disciplined, they simply lack talent.
  • There is a slight chance that all the chaos at Manchester United's camp would bring even more chaos on the pitch. Of course, MU could use some healthy chaos on the pitch but only if it is calculated. However, if Solskjaer failed to give a good impression and made some ugly choices in his first few days, players might not like that.
  • Lukaku will not play. Oh, wait... Is it really bad for this bet?
  • Cardiff play at home and playing conditions were not the best for the last couple of days. And usually, bad playing conditions favor weaker teams.
  • Manchester United players might be so damaged by the first half of the season that even a new coach cannot save it. That wouldn't be good for the bet, but I doubt that anyone would mind seeing that.
  • MU's defense won't get any better with the new coach. They need new defenders.

What do you guys think about this match? Will Solskjaer get his first win as MU's coach tonight?